Zoo Atlanta baby boom continues with new warthog piglets

There’s a new set of little ones at Zoo Atlanta.

Three female warthogs arrived at the zoo earlier this month and are the first births in the African Savanna habitat.

Eleanor and Hamlet are parents to the new litter — their first offspring — born on April 13, 2021.

“We are thrilled to welcome warthog piglets to Eleanor and Hamlet and to our African Savanna,” Jennifer Mickelberg, Ph.D., Vice President of Collections and Conservation said in a press release. “The African Savanna highlights the interconnectedness of all life. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate that connection than with new life.”

Behind the scenes, the trio is bonding with mom, who has been exhibiting proper maternal behavior and acting protective. They’ll get the chance to meet their father later on.

A date that the piglets can be seen by the public has yet to be revealed.

This marks the first piglets born at Zoo Atlanta since the birth of Eleanor and her littermates in 2014. The new litter now surpasses Hamlet as the newest warthogs in the habitat. He arrived from Texas’ Houston Zoo in October 2020 as a companion for Eleanor.

At the time, Mickelberg said warthogs “are animals that many people consider iconic to a legendary part of Africa.” She added that they and all African Savanna animals “are all emblematic of the connectedness of this ecosystem – and of the connections between us here in Atlanta and the future of Africa’s wild savannas.”